On March 6, 2017, Mishel Shaji Varghese, a student pursuing Chartered Accountancy, was discovered dead near the Vembanad Lake at a dock in Kochi, under puzzling circumstances. His family has penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that the police did not conduct a thorough investigation. They are urging the Prime Minister to intervene and instruct a capable agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation to uncover the truth.
Sailamma Shaji, mother of the deceased, wrote to PM Modi on January 15 and indicated that the police are shielding someone. “My daughter Mishel Shaji Varghese (18Y) went missing on March 5, 2017, and was last spotted at St Antony’s Church in Ernakulam’s Kaloor in Kerala that day. The next day, her body was found under suspicious conditions in backwaters near Kochi’s Willington Island. The preliminary investigation was done by local police and was later taken up by the crime branch. The case was closed as a suicide. I have reasons to believe this is a murder while the police are trying to protect someone,” Sailamma Shaji wrote to PM Modi on January 15.
Furthermore, she presented evidence indicating the possibility of murder and claimed that the police failed to conduct a thorough investigation.
“There were blood markings on both hands, evident in the video recordings. A famous forensic surgeon commented that it was as if someone had pressed them down while she was alive. Similarly, there were deep fingernail markings on both cheeks as well as bruises on the lips. The hospital chosen for carrying out the autopsy was changed at the last minute on March 7, 2017. This is hinting at foul play in the postmortem report. Mishel’s watch and ring were missing when her body was retrieved,” she stated.
She also emphasized Prime Minister Modi’s prioritization of the girl child, expressing her devastation as a mother who has lost her own daughter. She earnestly requests his intervention to mandate an investigation by a competent agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigation to unveil the truth. “I have lost trust in the Kerala police as from the beginning they were going with a preconceived notion of suicide,” she said.
The father of Mishel Shaji Varghese also talked about their struggle for justice, “Today, it’s been 7 years since we, the family are waiting for justice. Kerala Police is trying to cover up the murder and trying to frame it as suicide. Ernakulam Central CI Ananthalal acted as per the top orders to cover up this murder to hide the influence of the famous Malayalam actor’s son. They haven’t recorded the time of death. I am confident that my daughter can not commit suicide. We have submitted a complaint to PM Modi. Their suspect Cronin is also a cooked-up narrative. It’s a murder and police covered it up because the son of a famous Malayalam actor is involved in this,” he said.
Sailamma, Mishel Shaji’s mother, expressed her belief that the police did not show seriousness regarding the case right from the outset. “They asked us to change the date from March 5, 2017, to March 6th, 2027 on the missing person’s complaint to rule out police foul play. Mishel was last seen on March 5, 2017, at 6.18 pm at St Antony church, Kaloor. So that time we were at Ernakulam Central Station asking them to get the tower location. But they were reluctant otherwise we could have saved her. She reached Marine Drive after 7.30 pm,” she added.
Sailamma asked “Where was she between 6.18 PM to 7.30 pm? If the Police acted swiftly, she would have been alive. Photos with her friends on the same day of her disappearance show her in a cheerful mood.”
The Mishel Shaji’s family suspects that the police deliberately tampered with the investigation. “Crime Branch still hasn’t submitted the report to the Kerala High Court. They allege a lapse in FIR and in the postmortem report. The crime branch didn’t investigate the involvement of the receptionist of her institution who also stayed in the same hostel,” they added.
Chandracharya, a member of the Action Council, stated that they have submitted a petition to CM Pinarayi Vijayan on three separate occasions.”They filed a letter of Complaint against CI Ananthalal with Ernakulam DCP Sudharshan and with the police complaint authority. We have filed a petition in Kerala HC. We are demanding a CBI enquiry into this matter. They didn’t even comply with our request to get the tower location. Police are confident that every investigative agency will reach the conclusion that it’s a suicide. They have pre-planned and executed this,’ says the Action Council member Chandracharya.
Sunday School headmaster Mathew said “We haven’t gotten answers to our questions. They fabricated the FIR Report when we pointed out she couldn’t jump or die from the first bridge of Goshree where it’s filled with mud. They have rewritten the FIR in changing the location to Goshree second bridge.”
